A recap of the 2021-22 summer netball grand finals, which were held at La Trobe Sports Stadium on Friday night.
Section 1: St Mary’s 1 (19) defeated Montmorency 1 (16)
St Mary’s capped off their return to the summer netball competition with their first Section 1 premiership against Montmorency. In a low-scoring contest in the final game of the night and the season, the Burra came from behind in the final quarter and scored 10 goals to five to pick up their second-consecutive victory over Montmorency in this year’s finals. St Mary’s goal defence and joint competition best and fairest winner Caitlin Ryan added to her NFNL netball accolades, winning the best on court award. St Mary’s goal shooter Tiffany Carr finished as the leading scorer on the night with 13 goals.
Section 2: Heidelberg 1 (31) defeated Greensborough 1 (22)
Heidelberg 1 made it back-to-back summer netball premierships as they defeated Greensborough on court 2. The Tigers were also made to work for it against their rivals, however, like St Mary’s in Section 1, they ran away with it in the fourth and scored 11 goals to four to comfortably win by nine goals. Heidelberg defender Monique Astorino won the best on court award, with goal attack and Section 2 leading goal shooter Stephanie Tucker continuing her superb season and finishing as the leading goal scorer with 16 goals.
Section 3: Hume 1 (40) defeated Thomastown 1 (15)
Hume 1 picked up the club’s first NFNL netball premiership flag under the Hume name by comfortably defeating Thomastown 1 in the final game on court 5. Hume controlled the game from the word go, with the result looking sewn up at half time courtesy of an 11-goal advantage to Hume, before finishing as 25-goal winners. Hume goal attack Zoe Phillips was superb on the night, finishing as the leading goal scorer with 21 goals (13 of which came in the first half) as well as the best on court.
Section 4: Epping 2 (29) defeated Heat 4 (22)
In their first summer netball season, Epping 2 picked up their first summer premiership against Heat 4. After being down at the halfway mark, Epping charged home in the second half, scoring 17 goals and conceding only eight to win by an eight-goal margin. Goal shooter Ebony Albon came home with the best on court award as well as the leading goal scorer with 15 goals.
Section 5: Kilmore 2 (23) defeated Bundoora 6 (18)
It was another first premiership at La Trobe Sports Stadium, this time for Kilmore as they defeated Bundoora 6. After pulling away in the second and third quarter. the Blues managed to hang on in a tense final term to win by five goals. Kilmore centre Macy Byrnes won best on court for the match whilst goal shooter Liz Stoward scored a game-high 16 goals in the victory.
Section 6: Northcote Park 2 (32) defeated Montmorency 4 (14)
Northcote Park 2 ran away with the Section 6 premiership in the first grand final on court 5. After a tight first quarter, which ended all square at 6-all, the Cougars piled on 20 goals in the second and third quarters, whilst only conceding five to set up the game, before going on to win by a comfortable margin of 18 goals. Northcote Park goal attack Shelby Simpson was immense in their victory, winning the best on court award as well as leading the goal scoring with 27 of the Cougars’ 32 goals.
Section 7: Montmorency 5 (22) defeated Bundoora 9 (16)
In the first of the seven grand finals on the night, Montmorency 5 got atonement for last year’s Section 7 summer grand final loss, defeating Bundoora 9 on court 2. Montmorency took control of the game in the third term, when they scored eight goals to four to open up a seven-goal lead at three-quarter time. The Bulls showed plenty of pluck in the final term but Montmorency hung on to pick up the premiership. Montmorency centre Melanie Gilbert was superb once more and won best on court award, with Magpies teammate Chloe McCormack the leading goal scorer with 10 goals.
